


Mine is a hand to hold

by Atalto



Series: The Story of Us (Pebble's Shance Fluff Week fics) [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddling, Day 7: Past/Future, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, Multi, Shance Fluff Week 2017, beach visit, the war is over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 09:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11159508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atalto/pseuds/Atalto
Summary: 10 years later, it’s over. The war is finished, the Galra are defeated. The Paladins are going home.~Written for Shance Fluff Week day 7: Past/Future





	Mine is a hand to hold

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!  
> This is the second to last fic wtf, this week has gone so quickly. Hopefully day 8 should be finished, I've had a sudden rise in motivation.  
> This references some past traumas that I may or may not ever expand upon. Who knows. Who cares.
> 
> Title from Years of War by Porter Robinson - The first song I'd put on a Shance playlist if I ever made one
> 
> Enjoy!

When Lotor fell years after they started, it was rather underwhelming. It was Hunk the dealt the killing blow, but by the time they comprehended the death of the leader of the Galra Empire, they were far away from the mothership. They were far away from his blood that leaked onto the purple floor, staining their minds a sordid violet. The happiness that they expected to arrive with the death of their last possible leader wasn't near as great as they though it would be.  
Lance had held Shiro close that night, both having gotten a little too close to their own deaths for each other's liking.

When Haggar fell, however? Now that was a different story.  
She died in a blaze of light, of billowing, burning quintessenance that nearly blew a hole in Voltron's side. Her death was the catalyst of change; with her fell what was left of the Galra Empire and it's hold on the universe.

Ten years after they first got shunted into space, eleven since Shiro was taken from Kerberos, they were finally finished.

That night, they sat around in a disbelieving silence, trying to remember what life before war felt like. All that was needed now was a few round trips to clean up, sweep away the last remaining strongholds, and the universe was free.  
"So we can go home?" Hunk had asked, voice scratching and solemn, speaking the thoughts of the team around the table. The princess nodded briskly, sympathetic smile understanding the rush of emotions the Paladins were experiencing. "You'll be needed up here normally. The universe is never free of evil, and Voltron will be needed more diplomatically now planets can fend for themselves again, but you all certainly deserve a holiday."

* * *

 

They took a pod down to a beach, at Lance's request, thrumming with excitement with each mile they got closer.  
"The first thing I'm going to do" Hunk mused, "is buy some fruit. Some proper, ripe, Earth fruit."  
"I'd die for an apple." Keith agreed, laying his head on Hunk's shoulder as Hunk wrapped an arm around the red Paladins waist and leaned onto short hair that had lost it's mullet years ago.

They landed just off a beach in the sweltering sunshine, pod touching down in a clearing of trees overlooking the stretch of sand. Lance was the first out, arms flying out the moment he hit the open air. Following him was Matt and Pidge, who in turn was pulling Allura by the hand. Hunk and Keith strolled out just after, and then Shiro, sliding the door shut and placing his hand on the cheek waiting for him.  
"Can you believe this? We're back on Earth, Takashi! Earth!" The man was one voice crack away from crying, and Shiro was fairly sure that, if the Galra hadn't taken his eyes to replace them with the yellow prosthetics barely visible under his black shades, he would have been.  
"I've dreamed about this for years." He sounded breathless, and his face was lit up with childlike wonder. "The beach, the air, the sea- Wait! Kashi, a beach shack! We can buy stuff!" His hand moved to the pocket of his shorts, checking the money they found was still there, sighing happily when he removed his hand and passed Shiro several dollar bills.  
Laughing, Shiro moved his hand down to Lance's waist and began to walk down the pebbly cliff path to the beach. It was a job to make Lance stay by his side and he was tempted to let Lance run on ahead, but his boyfriend was insistent on trotting beside the older man, talking excitedly about how they were _actually home_ and slipping their hands together with a swing.  
When they finally made it down to the beach, Shiro breathed a mental sigh of relief. It was practically deserted, the only people around being the owner of a small shop and couple of tourists asleep in the sun. Sure, the family on the striped blanket may have seen the pod come in, but right now, Shiro didn't give a damn.  
"Oi, loverboys, you up for a game?" That was Pidge's voice, stood by their bright pile of towels near the waterline that Coran had dragged up from an old storage room, along with summery clothes and sunglasses. Behind her, Matt and Keith were playfully tossing a cheap, white volleyball between them while Hunk introduced Allura to the plethora of fish that rushed around the shallows and swirled around their hands in curiosity.  
"As long as you don't mind having your ass kicked, for celebratory reasons of course!" Lance called back before dropping his light jacket and turning to face his partner. "Are you gonna' play, old man?"  
Shiro snorted. "I'm not old, I'm thirty. And I'm always ready to show who's best at volleyball, don't you remember the Tripen games that Allura made us compete in?"  
Shaking his head slowly, Lance smirked and began to drag Shiro towards the makeshift court. "Babe, you are _so_ going down."

* * *

 

An hour later, they were both lay sprawled out on the soft sand; Shiro lay with his head pillowed on Lance's stomach looking up into the blue sky, whilst the man below him dozed in the comfortable heat of the sun. It was slightly jarring, seeing something so unknown that his brain screamed was familiar. In this moment of quiet, he half expected purple Galran ships to zip across the sky and to hear Allura's call to arms echoing in his ears while his team scrambled around him. His hand twitched for his bayard, gently feeling ground beneath him.

Instead, there was just Lance, wonderful, beautiful Lance, carding his calloused and scarred hands through Shiro's hair and letting his fingertips trail along his scalp. Here, he felt _safe,_ warm and protected in a way he hadn't felt for years.  
"Tomorrow is going to be crazy." He mused aloud, eyes never leaving the blue expanse above them. Under his head, Shiro could feel war-torn muscles tense and his partner move into a sitting position to look down on him.  
"What do you mean?"  
"We'll probably have the Garrison on our ass by tomorrow." Shiro replied. "I'm amazed Iverson didn't organise a landing party"  
He heard Lance chuckle, deep and genuine. "We're just too awesome for them now, what, with saving the universe and all." The laugh died away into a reflective hum, and Shiro felt his eyes close in spite of the harsh sunlight.  
"Can I introduce you to my family tomorrow?" He felt himself ask quietly, words slipping out without them meaning to.  
"Only if I can introduce you to mine." The younger man replied. Although the sun was too blinding for Shiro to actually see Lance's face, he could hear the grin. "They'd love you babe, seriously."  
"Really?"  
"Uh-huh." Lance took a swig from a water pouch, setting it back into the sand for Shiro to sit up slightly and take a sip. "They'd feed you, ask you for embarrassing stories about me, then my siblings would give you the shovel talk. Then they'd probably start planning the wedding on the spot."  
"Allura and Pidge look best in mint green." The heat and the rush of waves were making him sleepy, and he closed his eyes with a contented hum.  
Laughing softly, Lance lay back on a makeshift pillow of discarded clothes. "I'll be sure to pass the message on." He said with a laugh. "I hope you're okay with a beach wedding. My sister had one, and my brother before her."  
"As long as it's you Kitten, I'd be okay with anything."  
Sleep pulled Shiro under with soft claws, and he was okay with that.

* * *

 

When Shiro's eyes flicked open again, the sun was out of sight, presumably setting behind the cliff that they'd landed on. Instead, he was greeted by the blaze of colours that followed the sunset; red, pinks, oranges, all bleeding into a belt of navy night sky that dogged the horizon and caused his eyes to squint from the sudden brightness.  
For something he'd seen so many times before Kerberos, he was struck by its beauty. None of the planets, or moons, had a sunset as beautiful as the one of earth, a rainbow of colours that cast soft shadows on the silky sand that stuck in his feet and left a salty taste on his tongue. Below it, the sea sent it straight back, reflecting the glow in a shimmering spectacle of warmth. He'd missed this.  
"Lance," Shiro urged, voice still rough from sleep, "Blue, you've got to see this."  
Rolling over gently as to not hurt the man below him, he tugged on Lance's arm until he groaned and eyelids were prised open; he felt distinctly childish, getting excited at something as simple as a sunset, but right now, he couldn't care less.  
"What is it?" Lance slurred as he moved to stand, serious tone and tense stance showing that he wasn't yet acclimatised to peace. His head whipped towards Shiro, softening immediately when he saw the man in his arms fondly looking up at him.  
Once he was aware of where he was, Shiro stood next to him and turned back towards the ocean, pulling one of Lance's hands over is his shoulder. "It's beautiful."  
"Kashi, did you wake me up just to look at the sunset?" Lance asked with a laugh; he was wearing that genuine smile, toothy and wide, that reminded Shiro why he loved him every time it appeared. Lance's smiles always had an infectious quality, even at the worst of times, and now was no exception. Shiro grinned back crookedly, pressing a kiss into lance's sea-salty neck line.  
"Thought you might want to see it." He rested his head on Lance's shoulder, s no longer uncomfortable position now Lance was about his height.  
Lance pressed a kiss into his hair. "I thought I'd never see it again." He replied quietly, and Shiro's arm looped around his waist.  
In front of them, the light seemed to stretch on forever, meeting the sea at a far off point, where blues and blacks met and blurred into one.  
"I love you, Kitten." A murmur met the hush of the waves. "I love you, so much you wouldn't believe."  
"I think you'll find that I can." He was answered with a chuckle, low and soft on his head. "Because I'm pretty sure I love you just as much."

The starry night had begun to spread across the sky, a soft veil of inky silk and diamonds that fluttered and shimmered above the clouds.  
"Fuck, Lance. We actually survived."  
He felt Lance brush a tear off his cheek; he wasn't even aware he was crying.  
"That's right, Kashi, we're safe."

* * *

 

It was a strange feeling, Shiro thought as the pod made its away over desert wasteland towards different homes. There was no Zarkon or Lotor to prepare for, no sudden Galran fleets to defend against. The feeling, the need to be on guard, the _urge to protect_ never went away. The feeling that Haggar might suddenly appear in front of them tugged and ripped at his mind like childish monsters under the bed, a paranoia brought on by war that he doubted would ever just disappear.  
Lance's grip on his hand was like death, anticipation of seeing his family for the first time in ten years evident in the slight shake. In the cramped back of the pod, Shiro couldn't pull him close and kiss away the worry like he wanted to, couldn't whisper assurances whilst Lance laughed because _damnit Kashi, that's embarrassing._  
Instead, he threw a smile across the short space, sentiment breaking through the hubbub of excitement and Pidge and Matt shouting sibling-like insults from the backs of chairs. Lance must have picked up on that, and sent one back, squeezing Shiro's hand before joining the insult game with one of his own.

Here, Shiro felt like he could relax. Just a bit.

**Author's Note:**

> Bless you all for reading, thank you!  
> Kudos/Comments make my world turn


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